雅思阅读机经收音机自动化生产

Todaytheyarceverywhere.Productionlinescontrolledbycomputersandoperatedbyrobots.There'snochatterofassemblyworkers,justthewhirrandclickofmachines.Inthemid-1940s,theworkerlessfactorywasstillthestuffofsciencefiction.Therewerenocomputerstospeakofandelectronicswasprimitive.YethiddenawayintheEnglishcountrysidewasahighlyautomatedproductionlinecalledECME.whichcouldturnout1500radioreceiversadaywithalmostnohelpfromhumanhands.JohnSargrove,thevisionaryengineerwhodevelopedthetechnology,waswayaheadofhistime.Formorethanadecade,Sargrovehadbeentryingtofigureouthowtomakecheaperradios.Automatingthemanufacturingprocesswouldhelp.ButradiosdidiVtlendthemselvestosuchmethods:thereweretoomanypartstofittogetherandtoomanywirestosolder.Evenasimplereceivermighthave30separatecomponentsand80hand-solderedconnections.Ateverystage,thingshadtobetestedandinspected.Makingradiosrequiredhighlyskilledlabour—andlotsofIn1944,Sargrovecameupwiththeanswer.Hissolutionwastodispensewithmostofthefiddlybitsbyinventingaprimitivechip~aslabofBakelitewithallthereceiver'selectricalcomponentsandconnectionsembeddedinitThiswassomethingthatcouldbemadebymachines,andhedesignedthosetoo.Attheendofthewar,Sargrovebuiltanautomaticproductionline,whichhecalledECME(electroniccircuit-makingequipment),inasmallfactoryinEffingham,Surrey.AnoperatorsatatoneendofeachECMEline,feedingintheplates.Shedidn'tneedmuchskill,onlyquickhands.Fromnowon,everythingwascontrolledbyelectronicswitchesandrelays.Firststopwasthesandblasterwhichroughenedthesurfaceoftheplasticsothatmoltenmetalwouldsticktoit.Theplateswerethencleanedtoremoveanytracesofgrit.Themachineautomaticallycheckedthatthesurfacewasroughenoughbeforesendingtheplatetothesprayingsection.There,eightnozzlesrotatedintopositionandsprayedmoltenzincoverbothsidesoftheplate.Again,thenozzlesonlybegantospraywhenaplatewasinplace.Theplatewhizzedon.Thenextstopwasthemillingmachine,whichgroundawaythesurfacelayerofmetaltoleavethecircuitandothercomponentsinthegroovesandrecesses.Nowtheplatewasacompositeofmetalandplastic.Itspedontobelacqueredandhaveitscircuitstested.Bythetimeitemergedfromtheendoftheline,robothandshadfitteditwithsocketstoattachcomponentssuchasvalvesandloudspeakers.WhenECMEwasworkingflatout,thewholeprocesstook20seconds.ECMEwasastonishinglyadvanced.Electroniceyes,photocellsthatgeneratedasmallcurrentwhenapanelarrived,triggeredeachstepintheoperation,soavoidingexcessivewearandtearonthemachinery.Theplateswereautomaticallytestedateachstageastheymovedalongtheconveyor.Andifmorethantwoplatesinsuccessionwereduds,machineswereautomaticallyadjusted—orifnecessaryhalted.Inaconventionalfactory,|workerswouldtestfaultycircuitsandrepairthem.ButSargrove'sassemblylineproducedcircuitssocheaplytheyjustthrewawaythefaultyones.Sargrove'scircuitboardwasevenmoreastonishingforthetime.Itpredatedthemorefamiliarprintedcircuit,withwiringprintedonaboard,yetwasmoresophisticated.Itsbuilt-incomponentsmadeitmorelikeamodemchip.WhenSargroveunveiledhisinventionatameetingoftheBritishInstitutionofRadioEngineersinFebruary1947,theassembledengineerswereimpressed.SowasthemanfromTheTimes.ECME,hereportedthefollowingday,"producesalmostwithouthumanlabour,acompleteradioreceivingset.Thisnewmethodofproductioncanbeequallywellappliedtoevisionandotherformsofelectronicapparatus,"Thereceivershadmanyadvantagesovertheirpredecessors.Withfewerreel_c11ncomponentstheyweremorerobust-Robotsdidn'tmakethesortsofmistakeshumanassemblyworkerssometimesdid."Wiringmistakesjustcannothappen/'wroteSargrove.Nowiresalsomeanttheradioswerelighterandcheapertoshipabroad.Andwithnosolderedwirestocomeunstuck,theradiosweremorereliable.Sargrovepointedoutthatthecircuitboardsdidn'thavetobeflat.Theycouldbecurved,openinguptheprospectofbuildingtheelectronicsintothecabinetofBakeliteradios.Sargrovewasallforintroducingthistypeofautomationtootherproducts.Itcouldbeusedtomakemorecomplexelectronicequipmentthanradios,heargued.Andevenifonlypartofamanufacturingprocesswereautomated,thesavingswouldbesubstantial.Butwhilehisinventionwasbrilliant,histimingwasbad.ECMEwastooadvancedforitsowngood.Itwasonlycompetitiveonhugeproductionrunsbecauseeachnewjobmeantretoolingthemachines.Butdisruptionwasfrequent.Sophisticatedasitwas,ECMEstilldependedonold-fashionedelectromechanicalrelaysandvalves—whichfailedwithmonotonousregularity.ThestateofBritain'seconomyaddedtoSargrove'stroubles.Productionwasdoggedbypowercutsandpost-warshortagesofmaterials.Sargrove!sfinancialbackersbegantogetcoldfeet.TherewasanotherproblemSargrovehadn'tforeseen.OneofECME'sbiggestadvantages—thesavingsonthecostoflabour—alsoaccelerateditsdownfall.Sargrove'sfactoryhadtwoECMEproductionlinestoproducethetwocircuitsneededforeachradio.Betweenthemthesedidwhatathousandassemblyworkerswouldotherwisehavedone.Humanhandswereneededonlytofeedtherawmaterialinatoneendandplugthevalvesintotheirsocketsandfittheloudspeakersattheother.Afterthat,theonlyjobleftwastofitthepairofBakelitepanelsintoaradiocabinetandcheckthatitworked.Sargrovesawautomationasthewaytosolvepost-warlabourshortages.WithsomewhatUtopianidealism,heimaginedhisnewtechnologywouldfreepeoplefromboring,repetitivejobsontheproductionlineandallowthemtodomoreinterestingwork."Don'tgettheideathatweareouttorobpeopleoftheirjobs,”hetoldtheDailyMirror,"Ourtaskistoliberatemenandwomenfrombeingslavesofmachines."Theworkerssawthingsdifferently.Theyviewedautomationinthesamelightastheeverlastinglightbulborthesuitthatneverwearsout—asathreattopeople'slivelihoods.Ifautomationspread,theywouldn'tbereleasedtodomoreexcitingjobs.They'dbereleasedtojointhedolequeue.FinancialbackingforECMEfizzledout.Themoneydriedup.AndBritainlostitsleadinatechnologythatwouldtransformindustryjustafewyearslater.Questions1-ThefollowingdiagramexplainstheprocessofCompletethefollowingchartoftheparagraphsofReadingPassage,usingnomorethantwowordsfromthepassageforeachanswer.此部分题目不完整，只有文字部分无流In1944,Sargrovefirstcameupwithaprimitive Sandblastergetsridof Eightnozzles removerthelayerofareinstalledintheend,attachcomponentssuchas theECME.Questions8-CompletethefollowingsummaryoftheparagraphsofReadingPassage»usingnomorethantwowordsfromtheReadingPassageforeachanswer.Sargrovehadbeended